Now for the obligatory...

...life is like a race post.

I know - you've read them before. But here are the thoughts that were going through my still-naturally-dark-brown-Mormon-mother-head as I was a jogging my 5K yesterday...a day that does not have to live in infamy!

Let me start by saying - I am a fierce runner...when it's so cold I can't feel my legs.  Anything over about 50 degrees, though, and I stink.  Tis true.  Mr. Mormon says I should be an Alaskan racer. I concur.  Yesterday - RACE DAY - the high was in the 80s.  Ohhh - poor Mama.

Anyhoo - I knew the odds were stacked against me. But I'm all about persevering when I feel like it, and I felt like it, so I went for it.

I didn't study a lot for the race. I didn't know the exact path or how many folks would be there. I didn't know where the official start and end points were and I didn't even know where to park. I've noticed a theme in my life - if I'm nervous about something, I'd rather know less and figure it out when I get there.  For many, knowledge is power. To me, when I'm stressed, knowledge is nervousness!  I'm glad to have not known in advance that part of the path was through a cemetery and that there was virtually no shade to escape to in my black, heat-absorbing MAKE IT WORK shirt (thanks, MM!  I channeled my inner Tim Gunn!)

So, I hobbled along and just let the road take me where it took me. I had a general idea of what was going on (running around a lake in Mormonville for 3.1 miles) and for me, that was enough. Sometimes, people were behind me for a bit - and then they passed me - and then they were behind me...  

As I was putzing along, some men were just deadset to get ahead of several of us.  In fact, one gang of guys was so adamant that they would pass some of us -they cheated and took a short cut.  Ohhh - that got me hot for a couple of minutes until I realized, like your mother always teaches you, they're really only cheating themselves. A mile later, when I ran back into them they stayed ahead of me for a bit, but quickly had to stop - and one man ended up dry-heaving in the bushes.  I'm sure he "beat" a lot of people, but in the end, he didn't beat me. I passed his dry-heaving-too-small-shorts-self and knew he was suffering because he had chosen to walk for a long time across the short cut and now, the heat was getting to him. Sure, I was on the slowpoke but steady path, but the heat and exhaustion wasn't so overwhelming that way.

And isn't that how life is?  You don't know your exact path, but you have a general idea.  And there are folks who are just deadset to pass you on by - and maybe they will win - but in the end - it's all about just finishing. Whether you are first or last, your success is all about having tried and finished.  Sure - it'd be great to finish first, looking smoking hot, having some plaques on the wall, and in the cutest, sweat-free outfit. But that's gravy...not substance.

I believe in life, many folks are passing me by right now.  I am at a near standstill at having lots of big-deal-accomplishments.  I am not a success in a workplace and I don't always know exactly what is on my schedule for tomorrow. It might be helping someone find a ride. It might be going out with missionaries or listening to someone who is struggling. But I keep on jogging and putting one foot in front of the other. And while I don't know where the path will take me, I know that at the finish line, I will have traveled just as far as everyone else and I will have made it home. And that is winning the race.